


I’m Not Going to Beg You (But, I Promise, I’ll Make You Hear)

by all_we_see_is_sky



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: (please acknowledge this), Ben Mitchell Knows Sign Language, Ben Mitchell is Partially Deaf, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, fight me on that statement i dare you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 04:43:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19805008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_we_see_is_sky/pseuds/all_we_see_is_sky
Summary: Ben knew what came next, the questions. What happened? Were you born deaf? Why is it only in one ear? Do you know sign language? Being partially deaf wasn’t something that Ben had ever been embarrassed about and he didn’t have a problem admitting it to people. The pity and the questions were the only problem he had with it.Aka, Callum finds out Ben is partially deaf and shows off his talents





	I’m Not Going to Beg You (But, I Promise, I’ll Make You Hear)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dingletragedy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dingletragedy/gifts).



> Another little one shot based on an ask that @dingletragedy received on her tumblr (https://dingletragedy.tumblr.com/post/186263468737/tell-me-where-ivan-get-a-ficheadcanon-of-callum) because I’m a sucker for fics that acknowledge Ben’s hearing aid/deafness. 
> 
> Also title taken from School of Rock the musical because I think I’m funny or something?

Sitting around and doing nothing was never something that Ben had been good at in his life. He always had to be thinking, or planning, or working, or keeping an eye on Lexi which required more concentration than one would think. To put it simply, Ben never got a day of relaxation, which was why he was grumbling and complaining to himself as he thumped down the stairs at 9am on one particular morning. It just happened to be the morning of the day that Ben had set aside to do nothing. Lexi was at school and everybody else in the house was at work, apart from Bobby who wouldn’t be much of an issue considering he hardly left his room, that meant he got some peace and quiet for once in his life. He had planned to sleep until at least 11am and then sit around rotting his brain watching mindless TV, so Ben had it in for whoever dared to ruin those plans. 

That was until he opened the door and saw Callum looking rather frantic, like a deer caught in the headlights. “Can I come in? Is anyone home?” Callum begged, bouncing slightly on his toes. Anybody could see that he had a tonne of nervous energy thrumming through his body and Ben instantly stepped aside to let Callum in. Before Ben could get a word in edgeways, Callum’s eyes had flicked up and down Ben’s body which was clad only in a dressing gown and a pair of boxers. “I woke you up. Fuck, I’m sorry I’ll-“ Callum babbled, as he had a tendency to do, and reached for the door, the only thing stopping him from leaving was Ben placing a gentle hand on his chest. 

“Calm down, Loverboy. I’ll make you a cuppa, lighten up will you?” Ben huffed as he turned his back to Callum to make them both a cup of tea. Callum went pretty silent after that, probably overthinking like always, a mixture of guilt over the fact that he was alone with Ben again instead of with his fiancé and excitement at the thought of a possible round two. Or at least that’s what Ben assumed was going on between those ears of his. 

Due to the fact that Callum had been so silent, Ben almost slipped and spilt boiling water all over himself when he felt Callum’s hand brush lightly against his hip. “Fucking hell, Cal. You trying to give me a heart attack? Give a guy some warning,” Ben muttered, placing the kettle back on its base and turning in Callum’s hold to look up at the man. Callum just looked confused. 

“You feeling okay? I’ve been talking to you for the past five minutes,” Callum’s eyes were riddled with concern and Ben was sure he was about 3 seconds away from checking Ben for a fever so Ben let out a soft laugh and took a step away from Callum. No wonder Callum had been so quiet. The man had been stood on Ben’s right side whilst he had been making the tea and with the urgency of the knock, Ben had forgot to put his hearing aid in before rushing down the stairs. 

“I’m fine, honestly. Just forgot to put my hearing aid in, that’s all,” Ben shrugged but didn’t look up to meet Callum’s eyes. He knew what came next, the questions. What happened? Were you born deaf? Why is it only in one ear? Do you know sign language? Being partially deaf wasn’t something that Ben had ever been embarrassed about, the staring when he had his bulky hearing aid had been annoying but not shameful, and he didn’t have a problem admitting it to people. The pity and the questions were the only problem he had with it. 

“Oh, uh, cool. There was a deaf girl in my secondary school, I know the alphabet in sign language,” Callum declared, his voice full of pride and Ben couldn’t help but let out a small laugh because of course Callum would be the only one to not ask stupid questions and to tell a story instead. Ben hated that his chest swelled with something that could only be described as adoration as he watched Callum slowly fumble his way through the alphabet in BSL, trying his hardest to disguise his fond smile whilst observing. 

“You’re doing Q wrong,” Ben informed when Callum had finally finished. Callum only furrowed his eyebrows and repeated Q, doing it wrong again. “The pointer finger needs to be on the outside of your fist, not the inside,” Callum huffed, trying again only he didn’t seem to fully understand Ben’s instructions and somehow only messed it up further. Rolling his eyes, Ben stepped closer to Callum and took the man’s hands in his, arranging them so that he was showing the letter correctly. “There,” Ben spoke, nothing louder than a whisper. 

Ben was dignified and certainly did not let out any sort of surprised noise when Callum leant down and pressed their lips together in a gentle, yet somehow passionate kiss, both of Callum’s large hands coming to rest on Ben’s hips under the dressing gown. Ben’s own hands cupped the back of Callum’s neck and he found himself deepening the kiss, pushing himself closer to the taller man. When they pulled back, Ben let out a small hum of approval, thumb stroking over Callum’s nape lightly. “Can’t say I’m complaining, but what was that for?” Ben couldn’t help but ask, keeping his chin up, eyes locked on Callum’s. Callum flushed a little and gave Ben’s hips a squeeze. 

“Well, if you were listening to me you’d know, wouldn’t you?” Callum’s voice was teasing, gentle and Ben couldn’t help but let out a loud balk of laughter, glad that the deafness didn’t make Callum feel awkward or uncomfortable. It was out of the blue and strange for Callum to be so relaxed in his presence, but he had arrived so strung up and tense, maybe a distraction was all he needed. 

“Dickhead,” Ben scoffed, shoving lightly at Callum’s chest at the pathetic excuse of a joke. “You gotta get back anytime soon?” Callum shook his head. Ben wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth and question why. “How about, you go upstairs with our teas, I’ll make us breakfast and bring it up?” Ben offered. Callum looked as though nothing could’ve made him happier, taking the teas and all but sprinting up the stairs. Ben rolled his eyes yet again. 

Maybe in the end it would do more harm than good, for Ben in particular. But for now, Ben was going to ignore the outside world to focus purely on Callum and give himself that day off he had planned.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for taking your time to read this!! It’s not the best thing I’ve ever wrote and I’m not super proud of it, I feel like they were kind of super out of character, but it was something I felt the urge to write. 
> 
> Tumblr is @imstillabiggay, come and say hi or request a prompt to keep me occupied!!


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